


Remember

by DarkMidniteMage



Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Gen, implied that someone got seriously injured, slightly gay, some self hatred on neku's half, this starts in week 2, very ooc/headcanony neku and josh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 07:42:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15190049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkMidniteMage/pseuds/DarkMidniteMage
Summary: When you cut the cork from a wine bottle, doesn't it usually explode?





	Remember

"It's my fault she didn't-"

"No, it's not."

Joshua could see the reflective droplets gathering, and he lifted a hand to brush them away gently. He held his arms out momentarily, loosely embracing the teen in front of him.

"But I-"

"You didn't tell the Conductor to take her away, did you?"

"No, but-"

"You didn't forcibly say, 'Hey, Shiki is the most important thing to me, so I'll be willing to put her on the line', did you?"

"No, but I still-"

" **Neku.** "

That harsh, authoritative tone killed the words that tried to rise in Neku's throat.

"If Shiki had the chance, I don't doubt that she would play again to be able to come back to life with you. You know that she won't be upset with you for doing this."

Joshua rested his head on Neku's shoulder, feeling a few small drips against his arm. Whether it was the headache that was getting worse by the minute or how tired Neku was, perhaps even the stress he was under, the barrier Neku had been putting up for the last few years snapped, shattered, and crumbled into millions upon millions of tiny, irreparable fragments.

As if he sensed what was to come, Joshua turned Neku and wrapped his arms around him again silently. His hands netted themselves into Neku's hair, his own chest knotting uncomfortably as he heard a small, choked sob from his childhood friend. Neku's hands were grasping at fistfuls of Joshua's shirt, loosely holding on as if it were an impulse reaction. This, Joshua knew, actually WAS a default reaction, and in Joshua's response, he began to trace his fingers through Neku's thoroughly tangled hair gently, making sure he didn't accidentally hurt the spiky haired teen in the process.

Neku couldn't remember, at least not very clearly, the last time he'd broken down like this. Something he'd felt at fault for, something that had happened years ago when he was still a 'normal' teen. Now, he didn't understand why he'd cried back then, or what over. All he knew was that what had happened then was happening now, and he was powerless and useless and-

"No, Neku. Whatever you're thinking you are right now, you're _not_. You're trying. What happened back then happened, what just happened happened, and there's no going back to fix it," Joshua whispered this softly into Neku's ear, silencing his thoughts. "We can't change the past, but we can change our futures."

_"Memories exist for all the precious days my heart still wants to keep, somewhere deep inside of me."_

Wherever that thought had come from, it only made Neku's tears fall faster. The last week had been the knife that opened the bottle, everything pouring out at once from being shaken up for three years without end.

"Don't try to hold back, dear.... holding it in will only make it worse..."

He could feel the fingers combing through his hair, tracing his knotted strands back to order. His headache had gotten worse, but the tears wouldn't stop lowing. Somehow, he felt comfort with being near Joshua, some buried emotion from his past coming to the surface in a wave of calm that seemed to bite through him straight down to the core of him. 

Deep, sharp pain in Neku's skull, a blade twisting, tearing through him as if he were no more than tracing paper being torn into pieces between a pair of wrestler's hands.

Joshua was speaking, saying something, but he couldn't hear it. Dark, really dark, and then nothing but static buzzing in his ears. He felt numb and weightless, his consciousness a balloon whose owner had let go.

*******

 

_"Neku, it's not..."_

_"Then what is it?! Tell me what the hell makes you think that you will?!"_

_"I..."_

_"Tell me!"_

_"Neku, it's not that simple-"_

_"You just told me that you're going to DIE! How is that not easy to explain?!"_

The sound of someone standing up, rustling clothing and a soft exhale.

_"I... I j-just..."_

Rapid receding footsteps with an echo that seemed to bounce off of walls that Neku couldn't see. Rustling, scraping as if against concrete, and then the sound of shoes hitting against pavement that remained close.

A low, distance rumble, a screech of tires, a violent scream.

**_"JOSHUA!"_ **

 

*******

 

"-ku! Neku, wake up!"

He was being shaken lightly, violet eyes that Neku still questioned if were tinted by contacts full of concern looking down at him. A fear laced tone, a melody full of discordant notes that he knew for a fact he hadn't heard before that was filled with sharp, high pitched notes. His headache was receding quickly as he managed to regain control of his body enough to look up at Joshua again. A sigh left Joshua's lips as his gaze became fixed on Neku's deep cerulean irises.

"You had me worried there for a moment, dear..."

Neku didn't say anything, just closed his eyes for a moment and snuggled himself tiredly into Joshua's warm chest as he waited for the rest of his headache to recede. About five minutes passed of just sitting in a delicate silence. When Neku opened his eyes again, he realized his partner had fallen asleep. Smiling softly, Neku closed his eyes again, letting sleep overtake him as well.

He'd ask Josh in the morning.


End file.
